1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compositions which exert excellent effects allowing improvement in the mental function of humans and animals other than humans, such as reduction of mental fatigue which is caused by physical load, mental load, or other various factors, maintenance and enhancement of concentration, maintenance and enhancement of mental vigor, and the like.
2. Related Art Statement
It is said that classification of mental fatigue and physical fatigue is generally difficult. Certainly, when physical fatigue continues, one gradually comes to feel mental fatigue as well, and the power of concentration will fall off simultaneously. This is an experience that people undergo usually, and it is tree that the mental fatigue and the physical fatigue are closely associated with each other in many cases.
However, some mental fatigue may arise only from mental factors such as mental stress, mental disorder, and the like, and it is also said that the fatigue of the moderns is largely caused by this kind of mental fatigue rather than physical fatigue.
In some cases, symptoms characteristic of mental fatigue such as lack of concentration, emotional instability, sleep disturbance, and the like will appear. From the viewpoint of treatment and prevention, a sufficient rest can lead to a complete recovery from physical fatigue in many cases, but mental fatigue has characteristic properties that it is difficult to make a complete recovery only by means of taking a rest. On the other hand, for example, in the case where one waits for his/her game which is started several hours later or on the next day, such as at sport games or the like, if the mental function can be filed up by some way or other, then an effective influence on the game result can be expected, even though it is difficult to recover from physical fatigue in a short time.
Such problems related to the mental function have become serious even in animals other than humans, such as cats, dogs, horses, and others. For example, mental fatigue in a race horse will arise in the case where the mental power is used to an extent more than required, and it is said that unlike physical fatigue, it is difficult to bring about a recovery from mental fatigue even by taking a rest, and is xe2x80x98hard to come out to the surfacexe2x80x99 of the horse. That is, such fatigue does not appear in its physical condition and is difficult to get to Snow by training, and even if a trainer has judged that xe2x80x98the fatigue has been gonexe2x80x99, it still remains actually, with the result that, for example, the horse is not extended at all in the last straightaway of a racecourse.
As mentioned above, problems from the mental function in humans and animals other than humans have an aspect entirely different from those from the physical function such as physical fatigue and the like. Therefore, if material(s) exerting a positive and effective action on the mental function can be found out, then such materials(s) can be used very effectively.
Conventionally, for example, materials such as honey of acacia, Mallotus japonicus, milk, Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer, and others, which are quite different from the active component of the present invention, are said to have an effect on reducing stress and mental fatigue, and used as folk medicines.
Further, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 126,179/1995 discloses that foods containing maracuja juice as the active component has a xcex1-wave enhancing effect and contributes to reducing stress.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the inventors have extensively examined effects on the mental function of various components contained in tea. As a result, it has been found that maintenance and enhancement of the mental function can be promoted positively and effectively when caffeine, theanine, and arginine are used in combination. Thus, the inventors have reached the present invention on the basis of these findings.
That is, the present invention provides a composition for reducing mental fatigue, a composition for maintaining and enhancing concentration, and a composition for maintaining and enhancing mental vigor, as a mentally functional composition containing, as the active component, a mixture component comprising caffeine, theanine, and arginine.
Herein, the mentally functional composition means a composition which has biological and medical functions relating to the mental function such as mental fatigue, concentration, mental vigor, and the like of humans and animals other than humans. As used herein, the composition for reducing mental fatigue means a composition which possesses functions capable of reducing mental fatigue caused by various factors such as physical load, mental load, and the like; the composition for maintaining and enhancing concentration means a composition which has effects of controlling the fall in concentration caused likewise by various factors and of enhancing concentration; and the composition for maintaining and enhancing mental vigor means a composition which has effects of controlling the fall in mental vigor caused likewise by various factors and of enhancing mental vigor.